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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23699143">spinal cords</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alastor is in Hell for a Reason (Hazbin Hotel), Blasphemy, Blood, Crying, Gore, Manipulation, One Shot, Other, Stalking, no beta we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:33:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,142</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23699143</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>thirty seconds to run is more than enough time for someone so eager to live.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alastor (Hazbin Hotel)/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>69</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>spinal cords</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <em>“RUN, RABBIT, RUN.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>You were running, your bloodied feet hitting the grass as you stumbled blindly, desperately trying to stay upright on bruised ankles and buckling knees.</p><p> </p><p>The twigs and dirt followed you, leaving an obvious trail in the mud as you skidded left and right, the dirt squeaking and sloshing beneath you. </p><p> </p><p>Your clothes were torn, bruises accompanying exposed skin and cuts littering your fragile little frame, your eyes swollen and itchy with tear-soaked cheeks. </p><p> </p><p>There wasn’t a single thought for your well-being that raced through your mind, your legs carrying you as far as they could, boosted by your heart <em>pounding</em> in your ears as your blood roared, filling you to the brim with an uncomfortable heat.</p><p> </p><p>You were covered in dirt and blood and the phantom of his fingers against your skin, clawing and biting and puncturing holes into soft flesh. A grand delight of his nails now soaked in your blood, for him especially. He relished in your struggles against him as you desperately tried to crawl away, raking your hands in the mud and pushing yourself as far as you could.</p><p> </p><p>Alas, he was much taller, more at ease. He knew the limit to how far he could drag you to the ground and force you to endure the pain he prickled at your skin, admiring the blood that trickled from the wounds and dyed his fingertips red. His tongue was also darker, stained in that same crimson colour, for he couldn’t hold back and simply had to have a taste.</p><p> </p><p>Your chest heaved, <em>begging</em> for you to stop as your toes became numb from the cold of the puddles you were stumbling into the and mud that sloshed and stained your pants, stray sticks upon the ground poking holes into your feet, leaving heavy scratches oozing ruby red pooling at the surface.</p><p> </p><p>Your arms flailed out in front of you, grabbing onto trees as your staggered, the jagged and skin-tearing bark rough on your fingers, your bleary and red tinted vision unable to assist your getaway, bile bubbling in your throat as you slightly keeled over, your legs quivering. </p><p> </p><p>Oh, your fear smelled <em>delicious,</em> a piquant odour that he inhaled, burning in his lungs, accompanied by the earthly and woodsy smell of the forest that filled his mind, a certain scent that reminded him of the terror that singed your veins and tore your heart to delectable little pieces that he would love to carve into and devour for himself, sucking at the arteries. </p><p> </p><p>You were such a divine little creature, pumped full of <em>naivety,</em> and he played you right into his hands with nothing but how his words rolled from his tongue and pressed to your ears and his <em>urge</em> to <em>rip your limbs from their allocated sockets and peel the flesh from your bones,</em> all the while you were still awake, alive whilst he dug into your stomach and rearranged and removed and experimented with how gorgeous you were without the modesty of your skin in the way.</p><p> </p><p>You pushed yourself further, the forest too quiet to be reassuring that you had successfully gotten away, but yet when you started again, this time with uncertainty for he could be anywhere, you felt fingers ghosting over the back of your head as if something was reaching out towards you with an overwhelming layer of static hissing and humming, buzzing obnoxiously in your brain.</p><p> </p><p>You choked out a sob, the stench of copper invading every single fibre of your body, your nose twitching, incredibly sensitive as it almost encouraged a great headache behind your eyes. You wavered, blinking sluggishly but <em>still</em> running, before you realised how exhausted you really were.</p><p> </p><p>The hissing of static emitted from all around you; a radio struggling to tune into a nearby station, channel surfing, if you will. It was flickering between songs and voices of many people, though you weren’t sure what blazed in your brain — <em>“...our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived…”</em> —  for the noise was much too loud in your ears, your legs almost crashing against a fallen tree as you skidded over it, scraping the palms of your hands.</p><p> </p><p>You were huffing, the voices growing louder and more irritating, like an itch that you couldn’t quite reach. You squeaked, teeth chattering through the cold as your feet continued to slam against the mud. You were no longer trying to remain quiet, you just needed to get away. You needed to move, to be anywhere but in his line of sight.</p><p> </p><p>You attempted weaving through different trees, straying off the usual ‘path’ that you ran through, though there was no actual path to follow. The forest was deserted — <em>“...dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal…”</em> — and it was without even the smallest flicker of light to indicate that you were indeed close to some type of public area, or anywhere out of the trees.</p><p> </p><p>The radio flickered between stations again, newer voices arising and bubbling in your chest — <em>“...go back to Louisiana, go back to the…”</em> — as you felt the need to completely empty your stomach, the bile blistering and churning.</p><p> </p><p>It was so loud, completely shredding your eardrums as your ears twitched and jolted, and for a moment you feared they would rip right from the top of your head and render you deaf. You weren’t sure where you were — <em>“...will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.…”</em> — and yet your eyes desperately searched for familiarity. He’d blocked you from certain areas with terrifying and blackened shadows that crept up the tree trunks and brushed at your ankles.</p><p> </p><p>You staggered yet again, your shoulder being crushed beneath askew tree bark that scratched at your arms and broke the skin. You grunted, though it came out as more of a garbled whimper, much too drowned in the surrounding static, digging into your scalp.</p><p> </p><p>You began to break down, your mind scattered and supple, incomplete ruins, the copper scent of blood and your hands stained and sticky, ringing in your ears and enduring that pounding headache that crept up — <em>“...Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every female who has known man intimately…”</em> — and disabled proper movements. </p><p> </p><p>You didn’t know where he was. You couldn’t breathe — <em>“...but all the girls who have not known man intimately, spare for yourselves…”</em> — and the shadows crawled towards you along the floor once more, their hands raised to display sharpened claws and smiles cut into their faces.</p><p> </p><p>They were just as eager to tear the skin from your torso and rip your muscles to shreds and watch you arch your back and try to inch away from the warmth of your blood pooling and covering your stomach, all why you screamed and tore your throat dry and your vocal cords wavered. </p><p> </p><p>The thin layer of sweat that was barely visible due to the crimson all over your face glimmered teasingly, and he considered jumping in at that very moment to bask and taste the saltiness of your fear as it spread evenly on his tongue, where his appetite would be at peace but his stomach still unsatisfied.</p><p> </p><p><em>Hands</em> began to arise from the dirt, most obviously two-dimensional shadows that crept and coiled and swept across your figure, reassuring you with their callous body language there was no reason to run. The less you struggled now and defied him would only result in a much quicker, more painless death. But now, he wasn’t feeling all too generous, anymore.</p><p> </p><p>Perhaps he’d change his mind at the last moment, however. He wasn’t too sure yet.</p><p> </p><p>He had granted you a head start of a measly thirty seconds to make a dash for some sort of exit or hiding spot in the twisted game where he hunted you down, but he <em>knew</em> this forest. Every single place you could cower behind and remain silent, and he had made sure to block off any exits that could grant you freedom. He was much too persistent, determined to have your skin crawl as he dug into your body and ripped the tissue from the marrow and chewed down the viscera until you were nothing but bone. </p><p> </p><p>He giggled silently behind his teeth, the warbled static washing out the noise as it hissed and made your ears twitch — <em>“...that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain…”</em> — and your skin wash over in even thicker and rougher goose flesh. He was quite impressed, actually. He felt <em>very</em> inclined to just grab you by the arm and drag you back and pop your shoulder right out of its socket.</p><p> </p><p>He was patient, however, for fear and a broken mind made the meat taste better. His tongue slid over his teeth just slightly, a thin line of drool spilling from his lips. He had grown tired of the lonesome sinners, most of which had a distinct taste when it came to their innards, still so slick and warm and fresh with blood. Their flavour never fully satisfied him, and it wasn’t because they didn’t fear him, oh <em>no.</em></p><p> </p><p>He realised, after a considerable amount of time, that the purer the soul was, the more squeaky clean it was, the better the meat tasted, and he was having rabbit tonight. And he was making sure of it. </p><p> </p><p>He watched the shadows steer slightly to the left, keeping their eyes on you as they followed your every move, snickering every single time you cried out in pain or wobbled or fell into something.</p><p> </p><p>His hair was definitely a mess atop his head, his pants also drenched in mud and rain, and no doubt your fingerprints that left bloodied marks across his throat and his cheeks. His blazer was torn at the sleeve, his shirt wrinkled beyond belief, and yet he paid it no mind. Usually, he’d be fussed over his own appearance as he knew he would be the last face his victims ever saw, but he wasn’t here to look his best.</p><p> </p><p>He was here for you.</p><p> </p><p>And now that you were completely at his mercy did he finally strike. He’d been waiting a long and dreadfully awful time for this moment, and as you stumbled and quakes beneath the gases of the shadows as they taunted you, trying to persuade you to turn around because there was <em>no one behind you.</em></p><p> </p><p>He was aware of how exhausted you were, but he admired your instinct. Of course, in your current situation, the adrenaline alone would have pushed them somewhere right out of his hands and into a public area where, if people were willing and kind enough, they would be tended to. Of course, he had eradicated any means of survival. He had planned this out carefully, and he refused to lose to you.</p><p> </p><p>He had almost starved himself for this, for he wanted you ripe with terror and his own greed to take control. He hadn’t eaten anything for <em>seventeen</em> days. Not a single thing. He wanted to ensure he’d enjoy every single piece of your body, and he needed to keep you as awake as he possibly could. His ribs peeked from below his skin, and his spine was easily visible at his back.</p><p> </p><p>However, at this point in time, he was beginning to doubt how much strength he initially figured you had. Obviously, you could not run forever, even if you tried and trained for it. Your body would give out eventually, but as maimed and exhausted as you seemed you were still going, and he was growing more and more hungry by the second.</p><p> </p><p>Witnessing your veins throb in your neck, struggling to share oxygen around your entire system and your brain made his insides stir with rage, begging for some kind of release, even if a single finger would do the trick for now. He was teasing himself, and he didn’t enjoy it one bit.</p><p> </p><p>It was then when his own ears pricked up at the sound of the final cry leaving your lips, followed by the sloshing of the muddied water as you fell to your knees in defeat.</p><p> </p><p>The sound of choking, spitting, relentless crying filled his ears as it finally kicked into you that you had been on the run for hours on end, trying to muster up the strength that you weren’t sure you even had until today. Your lungs heaved, your heart so loud and your blood roaring in your ears as the sound of light-hearted snickering from the shadows was drowned out by your own struggles.</p><p> </p><p>You managed to roll out of a puddle just in the nick of time when your arms gave out and you laid still in the grass, your chest heaving and tears running down your face, which of course wasn’t helping with how tight your throat felt and how difficult it was to breathe already. You were gasping, clawing at what seemed to be grass in an open area, the shadows shrinking away but still keeping their eyes on you the entire time.</p><p> </p><p>You tried to fight yourself, attempted to get up and move your numbed legs, but they refused to cooperate, your knees buckling as soon as you knelt and your forearms burning. Your fingers twitched as you fell to the grass yet again, this time with no intention of loving, despite how much you <em>needed</em> to.</p><p> </p><p>You didn’t want to die. Not here, not now, not ever. But you weren’t able to escape, and that was the only rule he had provided you with. If you had managed to discover an exit — which you never would have, but he didn’t have to inform you on that matter — then he would have let you run free, but it was a fruitless attempt to steer yourself away from an Overlord.</p><p> </p><p>He was so much quicker, so much stronger, so much more intelligent than you. He had thought of <em>every possible outcome</em> to the little game he had in store just for you and his hands, still ghosting over your entire body, but still wasn’t anywhere to be seen. You couldn’t hear him either, but there was no point running anymore. If his shadows knew of your whereabouts, then he most certainly did as well.</p><p> </p><p>You were hot. Too hot, and your legs quivered as you fought to still them on the grass, your head swarming with unbearable heat as it felt like the blood was drowning your brain like a leakage had occurred in your veins. Your face was covered in blood and sweat, an awful mixture of smells that burned your nose and riddled your mind senseless.</p><p> </p><p>You choked again, spitting out the bile that tried to burst from your throat to the side of you on the grass, not caring for how dirty you were being or how filthy you felt. You couldn’t breathe. You <em>could not</em> breathe. Your chest hurt to heave and wheeze, and your clothes were stuck to your skin, absolutely drenched. You were insufferably hot, panting in bated breaths that escaped your lips.</p><p> </p><p>You fell onto your stomach, using your weakened and trembling arms to try and push yourself up, feeling as though you were close to some sort of escape. Something seemed to whisper your name in the wind as if you were within an arm's reach. You wanted to move, hell, even if you had to crawl your way through the mud and tear your flesh open with the jagged twigs sticking up from the ground.</p><p> </p><p>You were on your knees, your forearms quivering and you whimpered again, almost prepared to yell at your muscles for how unsure and feeble they were. Not to mention, they burned. The shivered and trembled and they were so cold yet so hot, and it encouraged more whimpers to escape your throat, your vocal cords strained.</p><p> </p><p>You spat again, your saliva thick and burning, bubbling ferociously. Your chokes and sobs sounded awful, and they tore at your throat, forced out of your lungs. You sounded sick, <em>completely broken</em> in the dirt. You were sure you were crying at this point, your legs soaked in mud and your fingers were pruning from the cold water.</p><p> </p><p>Your tears dropped into the mud, and you watched them fall, not bothering to wipe them away or even silence your heaving and pleadings to the wind to just take you away where you could be safe.</p><p> </p><p>The mud from elsewhere began to slosh to the sound of upbeat steps, but yet still menacing with how slow and calculated they were, figured out just to scare you that bit further because you were well aware he knew you weren’t able to run any further.</p><p> </p><p>“There are six things that the Lord hates...” The steps were much closer now, thudding against the damp ground with disgusting squelches, followed by the sound of his clothes against his arms, that velvety noise that would be much more annoying than it was terrifying. Now, it was different. “...Seven that are an abomination to him.”</p><p> </p><p>You couldn’t see him, nor did you dare turn your head to peer at him as he moved from behind you, his real shadow growing across your body, tall and disproportionate in comparison to how he appeared usually. You could faintly see the outline of his glowing eyes on the silhouette. You could almost feel it creeping across your cowering form. </p><p> </p><p>“Haughty eyes.” You felt him move over you on your left, bending down impossibly low at his waist to meet your eyes, though you didn’t dare speak or backtalk or even scramble to get away. All you could do was plead with your eyes, even when he brought a single bloodied claw to slightly pull the skin of your cheek down along with your bottom lid, slightly exposing the pink behind your eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“A lying tongue.” He was listing all of the parts he planned to ruin, your lips already parted as used that same claw to push past the vermillion and rest the tip firmly upon your tongue, pressing down gently, not wanting to spoil his meal already.</p><p> </p><p>You began to sob against his finger against the flat of your tongue, your heart fluttering in unsteady rhythms and threatening to leap right from your throat. You shook your head slightly, another wave of tears minatory as his other hand came up and disappeared over your head.</p><p> </p><p>And with a very gentle tug of the back of your skull did he pull you right into his chest, cradling you as his hand moved to stroke the velvet of your ears. Oh, how he loved rabbits, even as a little boy. They were so soft, so warm against his rather cold skin. </p><p> </p><p>His claw retreated from your tongue, holding you tighter as he felt you tremble with terror against his body, puffs of hot air clouding from your nose as it twitched and you tried to struggle.</p><p> </p><p>“...And hands that shed innocent blood.” He squeezed your tighter, almost too tight to the point where you kicked your legs out in shock as he giggled, still continuing to pet your ears carefully. He gave out at the last second after you let loose a strangled cry.</p><p> </p><p>You were so small compared to him, such a tiny little delicacy just for him to devour when he was finished tormenting you and ripening his meal. He was patiently, <em>so</em> ever patient, and now his hands could finally tear you to pieces, but he had to wait. He had to wait for you. </p><p> </p><p>Nothing tasted better than broken trust.</p><p> </p><p>“A heart that devises wicked plans,” he murmured, his lips buried in your hair as he placed a kiss just below your ears, though it was soft and so light you barely felt it. You flinched, kicking your leg out again instinctively. “Feet that make haste to run to evil.” He grabbed your calf to stop it from moving, his teeth slightly gritting at you but still pulled into that wicked grin.</p><p> </p><p>He softly caressed the area he had kissed with a single finger, still wrapped securely around your hand and still pressing you firmly to his chest, his heartbeat so much slower than yours. So much slower, though you could feel yourself begin to relieve yourself, oxygen finally beginning to fill your starved lungs properly.</p><p> </p><p>His claws scratched at your scalp, chary and caressing gently for he knew how delicate you were compared to him, still trembling in his hold, your blood still sticky and smearing against him and his shirt. He was trying his very best to ignore the smell taking over his mind, but he wouldn’t be able to hold on for very long. His other hand slowly removed itself from your leg, wrapping around your middle again and drawing you impossibly closer into him.</p><p> </p><p>“A false witness who breathes out lies…” He sounded as if he were beginning to snap, like something was splitting apart inside of him, but you paid it no mind, for the hands petting and stroking you were much too clement, especially for somebody as menacing as him. He was thorough, not missing a beat when he found spots on your head that made you lean into his hand unwilling. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“...And one who sows discord among brothers…”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>You weren’t sure what he was saying, and whether he was speaking to you directly, for you couldn’t understand a single word that escaped his lips, still too emollient, which seemed incredibly out of character for him, for you and him were still covered in holes and blood and wounds and scratches and suffocating skin.</p><p> </p><p>He hadn’t realised you had stopped trembling in his clutches, both his hands still preoccupied as he delivered you pleasure through pets, still strangely lenient as his other hand moved up from your waist to wrap loosely around your neck, holding your head close to his sternum.</p><p> </p><p>Your heartbeat, much faster than his, was now a quick drumbeat, upbeat but even. It was abate, no longer bashing against your rib cages with such a strength that even he could feel it pounding against his own chest. Your breathing was still nimble, escaping your nose with hot puffs of air, but that didn’t matter.</p><p> </p><p>You dared to blink sluggishly, warming his chest with newfound defeat, but a different kind of defeat. You went lax in his grip, no longer registering where you were and whose arms you were held in, and whose fingers now returned to your mellow ears. </p><p> </p><p>It was when you closed your eyes did his grin grow into that ferocious smile of his, seemingly rows of sharp teeth on display for the world to see — if there was a world to witness the event occurring. His eyes shifted from something more neutral to lure you into that pleasant little trap of his into those dials, <em>spinning faster and faster at the sight of your vulnerable figure.</em></p><p> </p><p>He giggled in your ear, feeling the tip of your ears once more and relishing in the warmth and plushness of your body, pressing a hand to your chest just to feel that rhythmic tune, still too fast and beating. He felt himself growing irritated, and his stomach growled.</p><p> </p><p>His smile grew, almost splitting his face in half, noticing that you hadn’t reacted to the noises he emitted, whether it be the tune of somebody else as it came from the radio at the back of his throat or his own drool spilling from his lips once again.</p><p> </p><p>His face reddened; a <em>blush</em> adorned his face, strangely bright and almost a satisfying ruby red shade, adding colour to his pale and grey face. It dusted over his cheeks, only making the bloodstains and your fingerprints on his face that much more prominent. </p><p> </p><p>“A gracious woman gets honour…” He nuzzled his nose into your hair once more, pressing one last light kiss to the top of your head, not even bothering to linger for a moment. A small smile remained taut to his lips. </p><p> </p><p>Then, the Radio Demon’s hand that had been petting you moved down to wrap around the top of your forehead, and still, you did not move. You did not stir, did not even show any signs that you could feel his arms around you, and now tight with something akin to deranged delirium.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“...And violent men get riches.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>A sickening and wet <em>crack</em> followed his words shortly after, the feeling of dead weight stiffening before slumping against his chest in the same position they had died in a delightful feeling which made his skin jump and his heart throb.</p><p> </p><p>You were still. </p><p> </p><p>He pressed a hand to your sternum.</p><p> </p><p>And after feeling <em>nothing at all,</em> his grin widened.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i wrote this at 2am</p><p>(and i, on a side note, am NOT making fun of a. lincoln or mlk’s speeches. they’re both INCREDIBLY inspiring and i love to read the transcripts over and over again and i would really recommend you check out ‘the gettysburg address’ and ‘i have a dream,’ for both of these speeches changed the entire world)</p><p>also ur a bunny for some reason do not ask bc this was initially going to be fluff bc bunny ears are so so so so soft hhhh</p></blockquote><div class="children module" id="children">
  <b class="heading">Works inspired by this one:</b>
  <ul>
    <li>
        <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23826661">Hush, hush, hush, here comes the boogeyman.</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomrosewrites/pseuds/randomrosewrites">randomrosewrites</a>
    </li>
  </ul>
</div></div></div>
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